Bradley Manning needs consular visit,
mother tells William Hague

Bradley Manning is held alone in a
maximum security cell 23 hours a day. Photograph: AP

The
mother of
Bradley Manning, the US soldier accused of leaking data to
WikiLeaks, has written to
William Hague asking for British consular officials to visit
him in military prison to check on his physical and mental
health, which she said was deteriorating.

Manning, 23, has been in custody
since last May in conditions that have provoked widespread
criticism of the
US military and government. He is held alone in a maximum
security cell for 23 hours a day and stripped naked each night
apart from a smock.

Manning does not have a British
passport or consider himself British, his lawyer has said, but
because his mother, Susan, is Welsh, the soldier is "British by
descent", the Foreign Office confirmed this month.

In her letter, Susan Manning
wrote that she visited her son in Quantico marine base in
Virginia in February, travelling with her sister, Bradley's aunt
and his uncle, "but they were not allowed to see Bradley.

"I was very distressed by seeing
Bradley. Being in prison, and being held in the conditions which
he is, is having a damaging effect on him physically and
mentally. I am worried that his condition is getting worse. I
would like someone to visit him who can check on his conditions.
If Bradley's being a British national means that someone from
the British embassy can visit him, then I would like to ask if
you can make that happen. I do not believe that Bradley is in a
position to be able to request this himself, so I am asking as
his mother on his behalf."

Susan Manning, who divorced
Bradley's American father, Brian, when her son was a teenager,
also asked Hague for consular support on her own behalf. "If I
try [to] visit Bradley again, can someone from the British
embassy help me and other members of Bradley's family to deal
with the US marine authorities and help with any other
arrangements we have to make?"

The UN special rapporteur on
torture, Juan Mendez, issued a rare reprimand to the US
government this week for failing to allow him private access to
the soldier. Manning can meet Mendez only in the presence of a
guard, where the soldier's comments could be used against him in
future court martial proceedings.

Mendez said he was acting on a
complaint "that the regimen of this detainee amounts to cruel,
inhumane or degrading treatment or torture. Until I have all the
evidence in front of me, I cannot say whether he has been
treated inhumanely". The Pentagon denied this week he was kept
in solitary confinement.

Manning is accused of leaking
confidential data, including more than 250,000 diplomatic
cables, to WikiLeaks, on charges that include "aiding the
enemy", a capital crime.

On 4 April the Foreign Office
minister Henry Bellingham said the British embassy in Washington
had expressed MPs' concerns about the soldier's treatment to the
Obama administration and would do so again. "All people who are
detained in custody deserve to be treated in detention according
to the highest international standards, and we certainly expect
nothing less from the
United States." With relation to Manning's nationality, he
said: "We must respect his wishes on the matter and recognise
the limitations on UK involvement," while noting that the
government had not at that point had any requests for help from
the British side of his family.

The Foreign Office confirmed the
foreign secretary's office had received the letter, and said:
"We will carefully consider Mrs Manning's letter and will reply
to her shortly."